PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Even though Earth Day has come and gone (April 22nd), an environmental education center in Philadelphia will hold its own Earth Day celebration, dubbed “Naturepalooza,” on Saturday — along with a native plant sale.

“Earth Day’s April 22nd, but that’s a technicality,” says Mike Weilbacher of the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education. “So essentially, when you do environmental work, the last two weeks of April are game for Earth Day activities.”

But what are ‘native’ plants?

“These are the plants that are designed to live in our environment,” Weilbacher explains. “They need less water, they come back every year. They’re very cost-effective — they don’t need as much TLC as the annuals do. And they feed butterflies, bees, ants, all the animals that belong here with us.”

And some are spectacular, like Virginia bluebells.

“You get two colors for the price of one — the pink buds open to blue flowers,” he says.
And Weilbacher says they’ve packed a lot into the four-hour Naturepalooza.

“We have our native plant sale, we have games you can play, arts and crafts you can do. I’m doing some children’s theatre, so there’ll be some juggling and magic tricks about nature and the environment. And we have a live animal show so you can meet vultures, hawks, and owls. So there’s just oodles of things to do, from 10 (am) to 2 (pm).”

There will also be live music from The Plants, a Philly-based band for kids.

Hear Molly Daly’s full interview with Mike Weilbacher of the Schuylkill Center in this CBS Philly podcast…